What is Kinbaku?
Kinbaku (緊縛) means 'tight binding' Kinbaku-bi (緊縛美) which literally means 'the beauty of tight binding'. Kinbaku is a Japanese style of bondage or BDSM which involves tying up the bottom using simple yet visually intricate patterns, usually with several pieces of thin rope (often jute, hemp or linen and generally around 6 mm in diameter, but sometimes as small as 4mm, and between 7–8m long). In Japanese, this natural-fibre rope is known as 'asanawa'; the Japanese vocabulary does not make a distinction between hemp and jute. The allusion is to the use of hemp rope for restraining prisoners, as a symbol of power, in the same way that stocks or manacles are used in a Western BDSM context.The word shibari came into common use in the West at some point in the 1990s to describe the bondage art Kinbaku. Shibari (縛り) is a Japanese word that literally means "to tie" or "to bind".
Why Jute Rope?
In Japan the most often used type of rope is a loose laid, three strand Jute rope. This rope is referred to as "Asanawa" usually translated as "hemp rope" the word 'asa' as hemp and 'nawa' as rope, however this is using the more generic form of the work [hemp] referring to a range of natural fibre ropes rather than those pertaining to a particular plant. In recent history a range of rope types have been used for Kinbaku in Japan though Nawashi rarely use synthetic fibre rope and most often use jute.
History
Bondage as a sexual activity first came to notice in Japan in the late Edo period.Generally recognized as "father of Kinbaku" is Seiu Ito, who started studying and researching Hojōjutsu is credited with the inception of Kinbaku, though it is noted that he drew inspiration from other art forms of the time including Kabuki theatre and Ukiyoe woodblock prints. Kinbaku became widely popular in Japan in the 1950s through magazines such as Kitan Club and Yomikiri Romance, which published the first naked bondage photographs. In the 1960s, people such as Eikichi Osada began to appear performing live SM shows often including a large amount of rope bondage, today these performers are often referred to as Nawashi (rope master) or Bakushi (from kinbakushi, meaning bondage master).
In recent years, Kinbaku has become popular in the Western BDSM scene in its own right and has also profoundly influenced bondage, combining to produce many 'fusion' styles.
In recent years, Kinbaku has become popular in the Western BDSM scene in its own right and has also profoundly influenced bondage, combining to produce many 'fusion' styles.
Kinbaku photos
Kitan Club

Kitab Club
Kitan Club is a Japanese Bondage magazine published though out 1948 to 1974.
This link is an archive that allows us to view all the pages in jpg files.
These issues certainly mark a remark in the Japanese Bondage history and its future.
There is more photographs in the later years issues.
This image is a page from October 1955 issue.
Kitan Club is a Japanese Bondage magazine published though out 1948 to 1974.
This link is an archive that allows us to view all the pages in jpg files.
These issues certainly mark a remark in the Japanese Bondage history and its future.
There is more photographs in the later years issues.
This image is a page from October 1955 issue.